Wraith’s feet flew out from under him, but he twisted as he fell, took the brunt of the fall on his shoulder to protect Serena. His legs didn’t work, crippling his ability to get back at Byzamoth, and the fallen angel didn’t spare Wraith any mercy. His foot came down on the back of Wraith’s skull, over and over, and as the kicks rained down, he could do little but roll on top of Serena, shielding her.
A searing, slicing pain ripped through his back and belly. Once, twice. The wet sound of a blade grating against bone screamed in his ears as, for the third time, a red-hot poker of agony gutted him. Through blurred vision, he looked between his body and Serena’s, saw the bloody end of a sword buried in the floor.
Oh… oh, Gods. He’d been stabbed through the back and impaled, the blade barely missing Serena.
Cranking his head around, he saw Byzamoth smile as he crouched to catch a stream of Wraith’s blood in a vial he’d drawn from his robes. “And the blood of the Charmed One shall open the Gates of Abyssos.”
“No.” Serena’s voice was a weak whisper as she struggled to crawl from beneath Wraith.
“Now, you little whore, you can watch your demon lover die.” Byzamoth drew one finger across her cheek. “I think, after I’ve taken my place as a god, that I’ll make you my whore. See, I can keep you alive, and soon enough, you will beg for death.”
Byzamoth swirled in a dramatic circle, and in a poof of dark smoke, he was gone. Wraith groaned and fell onto his side, pain tearing through him as the blade wrenched through his gut.
“Josh? Josh!”
“Not. Josh. Wraith.” He spoke through clenched teeth and bubbling blood, struggling for every word. Every breath.
He was dying. All this shit he’d put her through, taking her virginity and her charm…
All for nothing.
Lore approached the hospital’s ambulance bay doors with trepidation. He’d been researching the hospital, a little Q and A with demons who had been patients, and apparently, what Gem had told him was true. The fighting inside the hospital was unusual. Still, he didn’t want to take that chance. He might be a killer, but he wasn’t stupid, and he valued his own life above all others
He’d also learned that Eidolon and Shade were something called Seminus demons. Sex demons. Cool. But Lore had no idea what made Seminus demons different from other breeds of incubi. Mainly because, although Lore was a demon himself, he’d been raised by humans and hadn’t actually stepped foot in the demon realm until about thirty years ago.
Still, he’d remained on the outskirts of demon and human society, but at least he’d learned to use the Harrowgates. Those things were seriously weird. He used them only when he had to, hating the strange twinge he experienced every time he used one, as though each trip through the portals leeched away a bit of his humanity.
He was an assassin, but he wasn’t a monster. Well, he probably was, but if he could just hold on to his human roots, maybe he could deny the truth about himself.
Ruthlessly, he growled, dropped his hands, and entered the hospital. He had a job to do, and it was going to get done. Right now.
The hospital was strangely calm and quiet. He saw only Gem, sitting at the triage desk. She acknowledged him with a sad smile.
“Hey, Gem. You seem a little down.”
“It’s nothing,” she said, and he wondered if her mood had anything to do with the total tool she called Kynan. He’d have to see if maybe she wanted the tool dead, because Lore would be happy to give her a freebie on that one.
“Can I kill someone for you? Make it better?”
“That’s the nicest offer anyone has made in a long time.” She smiled, and this one seemed genuine. His heart did a little flip. “So what can I help you with?”
“I’m looking for Eidolon and Shade.”
“They’re probably in E’s office. If you want to hit them up for a job, now’s a good time. We’re seriously hurting for staff. Just head straight down the hall. Can’t miss it.”
A little burst of guilt made him pause. He didn’t give a shit about the brothers, but Gem might not be happy when she found out what he’d done.
He shook himself out of it, because he had a much more powerful demon to answer to than Gem. She’d get over it. The bastard holding his life in his hands wouldn’t.
“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
The hall was dark like everything else, with only caged red bulbs overhead giving off light. He passed cages and drains from which slithering noises drifted up, and dark liquid trickled in a gutter in the floor.
This was so fucked up.
He found them exactly where Gem said they’d be.
The demon Lore assumed was Eidolon was yelling into his phone, calling Wraith’s name. As Lore watched from the open doorway, Shade doubled over, his curse barely a whisper.
“E…” Shade sucked in a breath. “Wraith’s hurt… fuck, it’s bad.”